Confined Within Our Walls of Glass
by Adrift an Open Sky
Summary: One-shot/Percy and Annabeth have nightmares from time to time as an effect of the Giant War and Tartarus. Percy gets one and Annabeth's there to comfort him. Will they learn to escape the glass walls they're stuck in and overcome their fragile, shaken states?Will they ever return to what they were like before? Or have they been changed for good?/


This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction, and since I love Percabeth so much, I decided to write a one-shot about one of Percy's nightmares as an outcome of the Giant war and Tartarus, with Annabeth there to help and comfort him. I really love their relationship and how it developed from a strong friendship into a strong romance. I find them really cute 3 I'm not sure how I did with keeping Annabeth and Percy in character, so tips, criticism, and reviews on whether you liked the story or not are greatly appreciated and welcomed. This takes place about five or six years after the Giant war, and let's say it ended when both Percy and Annabeth were already seventeen.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Percy Jackson series and its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan.

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**Confined Within Our Walls of Glass**

The Strawberry Fields of Camp Half-Blood glistened under the sickly moonlight. The night sky was a pure black, and the moon was full and glowing against its darkness. The perfect image for the typical nightmarish night, promising tragic events to follow. A promise fulfilled.

The hearth, usually burning high and bright, barely let out a few sparks, and any that could be seen were a strange dark green, nearly black in color. Instead, the camp's cabins, in the shape of a Greek Omega, were set on fire. Greek fire. The Hephaestus Cabin's own secret weapon used against them. And as nymphs rushed past, as far as they could without being too far from their trees, desperately trying to put the fire off with no success, the fire extended towards the nearest trees, and began its greedy path through oaks and pines and all else it could feed upon, trying to satisfy its everlasting hunger and set all ablaze.

Thalia's Pine tree lay in shatters at the top of the hill. The golden Fleece and Peleus the dragon nowhere to be seen. And surrounding its remains, fighting for their lives, where campers, in tattered purple and orange shirts, blood and grime mixed with the sweat on their bodies. The fire's heat made the air humid and hot as it stuck to their skin and soaked the fabric against their frame. And just that morning they had shivered as a cool breeze swept across the skies.

It was a horrid sight to see. The dry grass was bathed in crimson, and fallen heroes lay still in puddles intermixed with blood - some not their own - and golden dust. And the fields of so much red reflected its color onto the dark sky above.

Romans had joined the fight; all those who sided with Reyna and weren't tricked by Octavian's bribery and lies. Some demigods charged their enemies with determination, others in rage, other's with shattered hearts as they watched their loved ones fall in front of their eyes. But in all, even the bravest and the strongest amongst them, a sliver of fear ignited in their hearts as they witnessed waves of monsters come in one after the other. And to think that this wasn't the real battle, but just a distraction to prevent the demigods from helping the Seven in Greece? That didn't really improve their mood, but just dampened it more than ever. They tried their best not to think about it.

Percy watched the scene in horror and disbelief. This wasn't true-no. They had seen the camp in an Iris-message to Chiron, and he had informed them that all was well, and the small army of Gaea's minions that attacked were destroyed. When Reyna, Nico, and Coach Hedge had arrived with the Athena Parthenos, Reyna, as praetor, brought forth a truce between the two camps. Trying to overthrow her with a group of Romans he won over with bribery, Octavian was defeated, and he and his rebellion were stripped off their Roman citizenship. The two camps worked together as one large army, with one main goal, with one enemy to destroy. But only a few demigods fell in battle. It was nothing like the blood-bath in front of him.

"You see, young hero." A sleepy voice bellowed. Gaea. Percy could recognize that voice anywhere. Years of nightmares where Mother Earth threatened his loved ones' lives got him used to her voice. But this didn't seem like a nightmare. It felt too real. "It's no use, Perseus Jackson. Your friends will perish at the hands of my army. You will never win. Join me. As you mortals usually say, if you can't beat your enemy, join them. You are lucky I even consider keeping you alive." "Choose, young hero. I promise you, you _will _regret your choice if you choose to ignore me." "Well, Gaea." Percy said. "You should know by now that I will _never_ side with you. No matter how much you try, I know who the real bad guy is here, and I'd never think of abandoning my friends." "My, my. And I thought that daughter of Athena, what was her name- Oh, Annabeth, would have taught you to learn to be a little more logical by now. You have made the wrong decision, Perseus. Now you will pay. Oh, and I think I'll start with the girl first." A girl with blond curls bouncing behind her rushed into the image. "Malcolm!" she screamed. "Annabeth, wait!" Percy shouted."She can't hear you, Son of Poseidon." Gaea cackled behind Percy. A blond haired boy, very much like the girl collapsed onto the ground, a drakenae's spear head protruding from his stomach. "No!" The girl sobbed.

Bend over her brother's body, crying as the life left his eyes, she didn't notice the cyclops creeping up behind her. She wasn't able to hear Percy's screaming to watch out. And so, the one eyed giant hit her with his large club, and she went flying into Thalia's pine tree, and slumped down. "No!" Percy screamed and fell to the ground. Gaea took form in front of him, dressed in an earth-colored brown gown, eyes closed. "There's nothing you can do, demigod. Just watch as she lay bleeding to death right in front of you. But so far away from you reach." A smile crept onto her lips. Quick as lightning, Percy uncapped Riptide and charged her, shouting with rage. Tears beginning to blur his vision, he plunged his sword into her heart just as she disappeared into mist. The scenery all around Percy changed. He was now in Camp Half-Blood, in the midst of the fight. But no one seemed to notice him, too busy fighting for their lives. He made his way through the crowd vaporizing monsters in his path. He fought like a demon, whirling through herds of monsters and slicing them, letting out all his pain, revenge for Annabeth's stolen life and what used to be one of the only places he felt safe in. He finally reached Thalia's now dead pine. Annabeth lay beneath, in a puddle of her own blood, covered in it. Percy rushed to her side and cradled her in his arms. He quickly inspected her situation as the girl's grey eyes weakly gazed into his. Her back was littered with large purple bruises. A sharp, large piece of wood protruded from her stomach, and a river of red seeped out. Around the wound and beneath her skin, a strange purple color was slowly creeping towards the rest of her abdomen. Annabeth hissed in pain when Percy slightly touched the wound. "Poison" she told him. For a moment he thought, how did poison get onto a piece of pine wood?, but was quickly pulled back into reality hearing Annabeth cry in pain. "Help! Someone, please! Get anyone from the Apollo Cabin!" Percy shouted out. No one seemed to hear him over the racket of screams and growls, with the loud crackle of hungry fire in the background. His mind went blank as panic overwhelmed him."Wise girl, stay with me." He choked out. Tears rolled down his cheeks. " You are not going to die. We're staying together. You promised, we promised." He looked around "Wait here!" he said. "I'm going to find help!" Annabeth, with tear filled eyes, slowly lifted her hand to his cheek before he could begin to get up, resting it there. The black haired boy covered her soft hand with his. "I'm having a hard time believing it too." she said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You know, I won't get to see Olympus reconstructed with my designs…" she trailed off, frowning. "Wise girl, you promised you wouldn't let me get away from you so easily. I'm not planning on breaking that promise anytime soon." he said, looking at her for any reaction, any sign that she was going to change her mind and agree with him. Annabeth looked down, her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Seaweed brain." she said softly. "I don't think I'll really be able to keep that promise unbroken." she croaked out. A salty drop of water made its way from her eye, rolling down her cheek. "I'll miss you." she whispered. Annabeth's hand slowly fell back down, now cold. Her grey eyes, usually gleaming with intelligence and life were empty and dull. Percy's mind raced. "She's not dead, no. Annabeth's sleeping. Wise Girl's sleeping. I have to wake her up. Please! Let me wake her up!" "Annabeth!" Percy screamed. "Wise Girl, open your eyes!" Drained of color, the now pale eyelids in front of him did not move."No!" Her face was now as white as snow, her face unmoving. There was no sign of her chest rising or falling. "NO!" No sign of a pulse. Tears blurred his vision completely and rapidly fell onto her still body. "Annabeth! ANNABETH!"

With a jolt, Percy quickly opened his tear filled eyes to find a curtain of blond curls blocking his view. His fiancé turned around and opened her grey eyes. "Nightmare?" she asked, resting her head on his chest as it rose and fell rapidly, still trying to steady his breathing and recover from his dream. "Yeah." He answered shakily. "You want to talk about it?" Percy shifted so that he nestled his nose into the crook of her neck, breathing in her lemon scented shampoo. "You were dying, Wise girl." he started, his voice slightly muffled. "Camp Half-Blood was in ruins. I couldn't save anyone. I couldn't save you." He looked up at her and she saw the broken look in his beautiful sea green eyes, now dark and stormy with grief. That look was one she rarely saw now that the war was over long ago, one when he felt ashamed of himself, ashamed for not being able to save the campers' lives. He would start to take the blame thinking that he was the fault they died. As his head fills with "what ifs" and "if only I was there"s, overwhelming his mind. Voices, many voices. Voices of the fallen and of the defeated, of those who'll never get to see the shining sun again, never got to say their goodbyes to those who still wait every day, and wish to hear them once more. They speak to him, disbelieving, yearning, grievous, broken. They scold him, they put him to shame, they ask him why he didn't save them. And he believes it all, and pleads, and tells them that he would have if only he could have. He asks, begs of forgiveness, and sheds his warm tears for them.

Percy looked broken. Broken to the extent that he would shatter into pieces with the slightest touch, like an artifact of glass as it falls. Each new dream added a new crack to his glass frame, slowly making their way to the center; the heart and weakest point. But if it weren't for Annabeth, cracks would have struck long ago. But she was always there, by his side. Telling him they're alive and breathing, that the fallen were true heroes, and were together in Elysium. She told him that they didn't blame him for their deaths. Instead they thank him for all he did. And he was always there too, by her side. Comforting her, helping her move on and try to overcome the horrid scenes that visit them from time to time. But they never told the other that it was okay, and all was well. Because it wasn't, and they didn't have the heart to put the other to sleep with lies.

Percy placed his forehead on her shoulder. "All the campers we lost, fighting against Gaea's forces died a brave death." She said. "A heroic death and the best kind." "But it isn't fair they had to die like that! And some of them were barely even teenagers! And those monsters just take their lives away from them without caring! They have people who care about them, parents who wait for them to come home as summer ends." He said. "It isn't fair. But not all monsters are evil. Remember Damasen and Bob?" "I'll never forget them." "And those who love them know that they died honorable deaths. They'll remember them forever as the brave, and are all proud to say that they know such great people." Annabeth's voice faltered at the end of her sentence and she tried her best to blink back her tears as memories of her friends flooded her mind. Malcolm, Luke, Beckendorf, Silena, and several other campers from several different cabins who had grown to become her good friends. This time Percy was the one to talk. "Hey, come here." She snuggled into his side as he pulled her towards him. "They're all in Elysium and well, at least away from the monsters. They're happy. I bet you Silena would be telling Beckendorf how cute we are if she were watching." She smiled. "Thanks." She told him. "Thanks? I should be the one thanking you Wise girl." She leaned up and kissed him softly. "It's what you do for the people you love, isn't it?" he asked playfully. "It is." She answered smiling.

And as long as the two were together, they would slowly find their way to the very top of their glass vase. To the small hole that made way to a vast sky above, promising new found hope. And they would climb its winding ladders, carefully stepping over its loose steps, resting on its ones of pure Gold. Percy and Annabeth would get to breathe in the fresh air they were determined to find.


End file.
